Kings-Timberwolves Preview

By ELI KABERONPosted Jan 14 2014 11:48PM

The Minnesota Timberwolves have alternated wins and losses each of their last eight games. If they are going to keep that streak going and bounce back from their most recent defeat, the team will need to defend the paint better than it has recently.

That figures to be a difficult assignment Wednesday night against the visiting Sacramento Kings, who just happen to have one of the league's best low-post players.

Minnesota lost 104-86 at San Antonio on Sunday in part because of its inability to protect the basket. The Spurs scored 46 points in the paint, continuing a season-long trend for the Timberwolves. On the year, they allow 45.8 points per game in the paint, among the most in the NBA.

Against the Kings, the team will have to deal with center DeMarcus Cousins, who scored 31 points and grabbed 13 boards in Sacramento's 116-92 loss at Indiana on Tuesday. The 6-foot-11, 270-pound Cousins ranks among the top 10 in the league in both points (23.5) and rebounds (11.6) per game, and has 24 double-doubles on the season.

"Cousins is really talented. A really talented player. He's really putting up numbers this year," Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman told the team's official website. "We know it's going to be a test... I mean really it's about how we play, you can't look at anybody's record. We are trying to establish something."

The Timberwolves (18-19) have their own low-post threat in Kevin Love, who is averaging 25.5 points and 13.1 rebounds per game, leading the league with 31 double-doubles. He's been helped out of late by Nikola Pekovic, who has shaken off some early-season struggles to average 22.9 points and 10.3 boards in the last 12 games.

Love, though, struggled against the Spurs, scoring 14 points - his second-lowest total of the season - on 3-of-14 shooting. Pekovic picked up the slack by going 10 of 15 from the field for 22 points.

"(The Spurs) were very physical with Kevin Love everywhere he moved," Adelman said. "We have to figure out a way to help him out a little bit, see if we can't have an answer for that."

Sacramento (13-23) had its season-best three-game winning streak snapped Tuesday, dropping to 4-10 on the road, where it gives up 107.4 points per game. The Kings shot 42.4 percent while allowing the Pacers to make 54.9 percent of their shots.

"To win on the road in the NBA against a great team, you cannot have the amount of turnovers we had," he said. "It's a great learning experience for our team, and the great thing about the NBA is that we have another challenge awaiting us (Wednesday) night in Minnesota."

The Kings have struggled in the Twin Cities lately, losing three straight and five of their past seven visits.

Minnesota will be welcoming back rookie Shabazz Muhammad, who was recalled from the NBA Development League on Monday. The 14th overall pick in the 2013 draft has scored only 12 points in 11 games this season.

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Gay leads Kings to 4th win in 5 games

By JON KRAWCZYNSKIPosted Jan 16 2014 1:49AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Rudy Gay has heard all the criticism and been confronted with the harsh reality that the last two teams to trade him have flourished with him gone.

Now that he is being counted on to be a leader for these young, impressionable Sacramento Kings, Gay is starting to have an effect on more than just the box score.

Gay had 33 points, five rebounds and six assists, and Isaiah Thomas had 26 points and seven assists to lead the Kings to a 111-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

"He's such a pro," Kings coach Michael Malone said of Gay, who was held in check in a loss to Indiana the previous night. "After the game in Indiana, I said a couple of words and he stepped up and apologized to his teammates for how he played last night. He felt he didn't show up."

He sure did on Wednesday night.

Gay hit 12 of 19 shots and Derrick Williams had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting in his first game at Target Center since the Timberwolves traded him to the Kings in November. DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points and 11 boards, and the Kings shot 55 percent to win for the fourth time in five games.

Kevin Love had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota (18-20). But Ricky Rubio committed five of Minnesota's 12 turnovers and the Wolves fell to 0-11 in games decided by four points or less.

"We're so hands-off defensively," Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman lamented. "It almost takes an act of Congress to foul somebody. You have to get after people in this league."

The Kings seemed to have the game well in hand with a nine-point lead and under two minutes to play.

But Love hit two 3-pointers and J.J. Barea converted a three-point play that cut the deficit to 109-108 with 4.6 seconds remaining.

Gay hit a big 3 and Cousins hit a couple of clutch free throws down the stretch and Barea heave at the buzzer fell short.

"I just knew I had to come out here and perform for this team, for my teammates," Gay said. "There's still more I could've done."

The Kings had a three-game winning streak come to a crashing halt the previous night when they were drubbed by the Indiana Pacers. But they showed more energy, aggressiveness and spark from the opening tip against a team that had the previous two days off and is scratching and clawing to stay in the playoff conversation in the powerful Western Conference.

"I keep saying we're better than our record indicates but until we go out there and win games in a row and beat teams that we feel we're supposed to beat, we won't go anywhere," Love said. "We definitely need to start winning."

The Timberwolves' most damaging loss this season was delivered thanks in large part to an old friend.

Williams spent a little more than two underwhelming seasons in Minnesota to start his career. The former No. 2 overall pick just never fit in with the Rick Adelman's corner offense, getting stuck behind Love and veteran Dante Cunningham on the depth chart. Before he was traded to Sacramento at the end of November, Williams was averaging a paltry 14.7 minutes per game and was a healthy scratch four times.

On Wednesday night, he resembled much more closely the player that the Wolves thought they were getting in 2011. He shot 5 of 6 in the first half, and four of those were soaring dunks that flashed the kind of athleticism that was on display too little while he was here. When Wolves shooting guard Shved was caught on him on a switch, Williams backed him down forcefully and threw down a two-handed slam.

Williams stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for a layup and also threw down a lob pass in transition from Jimmer Fredette in transition that drew a big gasp from fans who wanted to see that in a Timberwolves uniform.

"Overall I've just been playing my game, and that's what coach wants me to do, play aggressive," Williams said.

Cousins got going in the second half, scoring all but two of his points to help the Kings grind out their fifth road win of the season in 15 games.

NOTES: Kings G Ben McLemore left the game in the second quarter with a sprained left ankle. ... Gay has scored 20 or more 7 of last 10 and 11 times in 17 games since he was acquired in a trade from Toronto. ... The Kings won for just the fifth time on the road in 15 games this season.

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Kings 111, Timberwolves 108

THE FACT: The Minnesota Timberwolves are now 0-11 in games decided by four points or less.

THE LEAD: The Sacramento Kings did whatever they wanted with the Minnesota Timberwolves for all but the final three minutes. And then they had just enough left in the tank to respond to a furious Minnesota run and pull off the road victory, 111-108. The win was the Kings' fourth in their last five games.

Rudy Gay led the Kings in the first half, scoring 22 of his season-high 33 points on 8-for-11 shooting and Isaiah Thompson took over where Gay left off, scoring 20 of his 26 points in the second half. Similarly, DeMarcus Cousins was quiet for most of the first half, but he hit a pair of huge shots in the final minute of the game to maintain Sacramento's lead.

After a Thomas 3-pointer, Minnesota trailed by 11 with 3:18 to play in the game, Minnesota went on an 14-5 run, including a pair of 3-pointers by Kevin Love, to cut the lead to two. Sacramento made their free throws and a 3-pointer by J.J. Barea to tie the game came up short, giving Minnesota another excruciating close loss. They have not won a game decided by four points or less since March 17, 2013 (a 97-95 victory over the Hornets).

Despite being hobbled for much of the game after having been kneed in the leg, Love led Wolves with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Barea and Alexey Shved scored 14 and 13 respectively (matching a season high for Shved) and got all the fourth quarter minutes as sloppy play from Ricky Rubio and Kevin Martin put them on the bench down the stretch.

QUOTABLE: "I feel like we kind of got into a panic towards the end and we lost our composure towards the end but we put out an ugly win but I'll take it."-- Cousins on the Sacramento's composure down the stretch

THE STAT: Sacramento shot 54.9 percent from the floor, their second best percentage of the season. They also out-rebounded Minnesota 51-45.

TURNING POINT: Sacramento used a 12-2 run in the second quarter to build a double-digit lead, a lead they never relinquished. Minnesota made it a one-possession game five times in the final minute, only to have Sacramento respond with a 3 by Gay, a pair of lay-ups by Cousins, and four made free throws (two by Cousins and two by Thomas).

QUOTABLE II: "It's not overlooking, trust me, why are we overlooking anyone? We are below .500. We talked about that team, they had lost a ton of times early and they've beaten Miami and they've beaten Portland. They've beaten Phoenix twice. What would give us the right to overlook them? It's not even an excuse. If they are then there is something wrong."-- Minnesota coach Rick Adelman

HOT: Gay scored 22 in the first half and Isaiah Thomas scored 20 in the second.

NOT: Cousins didn't get his first point until 3:43 of second quarter. He only scored four points in the first half on 1-for-6 shooting. Rubio turned the ball over three times in the first quarter and didn't play in the fourth quarter at all.

NOTABLE: Sacramento guard Ben McLemore left the game with a sprained ankle at 8:07 in the second quarter and did not return. ... Minnesota had defeated Sacramento in their last three home contests. ... This game was officiated by a crew with a combined 82 seasons of officiating experience. Bennett Salvatore has 31 seasons of experience, Dick Bavetta has 38, and Courtney Kirkland has a (mere) 13 years.